West Indies seek to clear the air on Stanford confusion

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has acknowledged the success of the recently concluded Stanford 20/20 tournament and sought to clear the air after reports suggested that the board was not supportive enough of the venture.

The WICB has claimed that it was not aware of the dates of the one off 20/20 international between South Africa and a Stanford 20/20 Super Star team, which was to include a host of West Indies players. In March, the ICC gave the green signal for the match to take place on November 10 after meeting with the organisers of the Stanford 20/20 and even authorised the two countries, namely West Indies and South Africa, to release its players to participate in the match. However, the WICB claimed that they were not informed of this.

"At no time did the WICB agree to the possible dates of the Super Star Match with the representatives of Stanford 20/20", a board media release stated. "The possible dates for the Super Star Match came to the attention of the WICB when the ICC wrote to the WICB advising its approval of the Stanford 20/20 event for 2006 only."

With West Indies scheduled to tour Pakistan in November, there are chances of the dates clashing with the 20/20 match. The representatives of the Stanford 20/20 contacted the WICB to have the dates changed. The WICB wrote to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in June to amend the dates but the Pakistan board rejected the request, stating that it had commitments with the Future Tours Programme (FTP). The presidents of both the WICB and the PCB discussed the issue during an ICC meeting in London in July, but the parties failed to reach an agreement. The WICB has now sought the help of Malcolm Speed, the ICC"s chief executive, and are awaiting a reply.

"A further request for reconsideration of the dates and reopening the matter with Pakistan was sent to the CEO of ICC as recently as August 14th 2006", the release continued. "We await a reply. "

Earlier, Clive Lloyd resigned from his post as the chairman of the Stanford 20/20 board citing concerns over how the future of the tournament would affect West Indies cricket. Unconfirmed reports have indicated that West Indies are scheduled to arrive in Pakistan on November 7, just two days after the final of the Champions Trophy.